Created by: Thom Kafka Diese Seite auf deutsch/This Page in German
Last updated: Apr 5, 1998 Index Page of this Directory

This article was first published in February 1987 in the Newsletter of the Bavarian Stompers in Augsburg.

The Rest of the Story


Hello Square Dancers. You know what the news is - here's the rest of the story:

In the beginning of our century, Square Dance was at its bottom, although it seems hard to believe, looking at Square Dancing as it is today. In these bad days callers were hard to understand, they had forgotten most of their fathers' repertoire, Square Dance in these days even got in contact with alcohol (hard to believe when looking at today's etiquette). Square Dancing in these days had the worst reputation you could think of, and the Americans didn't even seem to care about their loss.

Then came a very wealthy man, hating this new music called "Jazz". This man took some of the profits he earned from his factory and tried to help Square Dance back to its feet. The first thing he did was to take Benjamin Lovett under contract, a dance instructor who from then on was just there for teaching other dance instructors how to Square Dance.

Benjamin Lovett received $12,000 per year in a time when the country was shaken by a depression. But not enough he had free living and meals and received a new car each year. The sponsor of all this even had a special TV serial produced in which...Square Dance was taught. And, not being enough yet, a new hall was built only for Square Dance. The reason for this was that halls all over the country became too small for the increasing number of new Square Dancers. This hall was named "Benjamin Lovett Hall", and its purpose was to give Benjamin Lovett enough space for teaching Square Dance to all interested people.

In these days of the the late 1920's Benjamin Lovett went to his sponsor and suggested to have some Square Dance records released, so it would not be necessary any more to have a live band playing at the dance. Lovett thought that these records might help to spread Square Dance all over the US, so his sponsor got in contact with a friend of his to get the first Square Dance records released.

The man who spent so much money just for helping a folk dance to increase was the same man who put the world on wheels: Mr Henry Ford, who had another famous friend, the man who released the first Square Dance records: Mr Thomas Alva Edison.

You know that Square Dancers meet all over the world nowadays, and their number is still increasing today. Now you know the REST OF THE STORY.

Thom Kafka

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